Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia Resigns to Run for NYC Mayor
There is still a year left for the June Democratic Primaryin which the candidate of that party who will seek to be the next Mayor of the City of New Yorkbut already the race to replace Bill de Blasio is in full swing, with at least three elected officials who have made official their intentions to compete. And they will be joined by Kathryn Garcia, who announced Tuesday that she was stepping down as her City Sanitation Commissionerand will analyze a possible candidacy.
With this decision, García becomes the third woman who was part of the current municipal administration and that he is leaving his post to analyze the possibility of enter the race for the chair currently held by whoever was his bossMayor De Blasioand who will be in that position until end of 2021.
In addition to Garcia, Maya Wileywho worked as one of the top attorneys for the Mayor’s Office, and Loree Suttonwho was Commissioner of the Department of Veterans Affairs, have also announced that they will possibly compete for the highest official of the municipal government of the Big Apple.
“They are three talented and effective leaders of my Administration who have decided to run for mayor. Are three strong women that they have achieved important things in their positions in the Mayoralty, and that is very good for the city of New York”, said of Blasio this Tuesday.
So far three men have made their candidacies for mayor official: the city comptroller Scott Stringer who did it this same Tuesday, the president of the city Council Corey Johnson and the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
Resignation due to funding cuts
Garcia, 50, who is not of Hispanic origin and acquired that last name upon marriage, assumed his position as Health Commissioner in 2014 and His last day in that position will be September 18.and. In his resignation letter, he indicated that one of the reasons for his decision was the cuts to the Health Department that he was making. Administration De Blasio due to the financial crisis created by the COVID-19.
And about this, the Mayor said this Tuesday that the last thing “we want to do is cut funds for cleaning the city, but let’s be honest, many of the funds we depend on have had to be reduced and many are painful cuts but we are running out of money due to coronavirus which is having a profound impact with a severe budget crisis.”
In addition to being Health Commissioner, in recent months García has also served as the ‘Food Czar’ of the City directing food delivery programs to New Yorkers in need during the pandemic, distributing more than 100 million free meals.
But in addition, she was appointed by De Blasio as interim president of NYCHA and was in charge as the ‘Lead Czar’ directing the lead removal plans for the apartments of the public housing.
